Sweet, Spicy and Sour
by SurrealExistence
Summary: Chloe's heading to a cooking course. Exes, blonde British boys, broody jade eye'd chefs and threatening letters are just some of the things in store for Chloe's summer. But she's determined to fly through the seven week course at all costs. Chlerek.
1. Pilot

**Hey. This is my first DP fanfic, so be gentle. ;) Anyhow, there are a few things I need to get cleared up about the story. A. It's all human and none of the characters have powers. B. Chloe is nineteen. Derek is twenty-three. Simon is twenty-two. And so on. C. Characters may be OOC, sorry if they are. That's about it. I'll mention anything else in the later chapters. One more thing, I'm quite busy at the moment, so I don't have an updating schedule yet. If I do, it'll be posted on bio and/or twitter. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN darkest powers, KELLY ARMSTRONG DOES! I do however own the plot and any additional characters I may add. No plagiarism. **

**Anyhow, let the story begin! **

_**Chapter 1: Heart Breaks and Heart Aches**_

"Nope" I said, plopping back down on my navy blue colored bed. I had just recently re-done my room, and I was still in the bubble that happens after you get something new; the one where you can't help but keep everything perfect and orderly. I fixed the black and white carpet, and pressed the speaker button on the iPhone. Placing the phone down, I stood up and walked over to my closet, and began shifting through my clothes to find something suitable for today's dinner.

"I'm sorry Chloe. It's almost the third day of summer, and you've done nothing. Your nineteen years old Chloe, you need to get out there." Aunt Lauren said. I sighed.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked, as I grabbed the blue and silver dress.

I could practically see Aunt Lauren beaming. "I signed you up for cooking camp! It's a seven week course, designed to teach you how to cook both gourmet meals and casual meals. You live in a suite by yourself, but there are several other students in the camp"

I could feel the corner of my lips rising up; I'd been nagging about wanting to go to a cooking camp since I was twelve years old and had my first family studies class. Unfortunately, with my dad making us move around all the time I couldn't sign up for anything. But now that I was nineteen my dad was letting me live by myself.

"I'll do it" I chirped. I grabbed my hair brush and ran it through my straight strawberry blonde hair.

"Excellent. The camp is in Chicago and you leave this—"

"Wait... Chicago?" I asked as I added a small amount of silver eyeliner to my eyes, widening them as I added mascara to my lashes. I winced when I poke my eye. God, I had no skill with these utensils that almost everyone else my gender used on a daily basis.

Aunt Lauren cleared her throat. "There were no cooking camps that lasted that long near here. I'm sorry"

I shrugged. "It's alright. So how many instructors are there?"

"Just the one. He's got lots of assistants thought."

"What's his name?" I asked. I placed the hair brush down, and dabbed a bit of lip gloss on my lips, before quickly wiping it off. I looked weird with shiny lips. I grabbed my purse and pulled out my phone charger, and hooked it up to my phone. There was a small beep that interrupted Aunt Lauren.

"—matter. You'll see the instructor at camp"

I narrowed my eyes. Something was suspicious. "Aunt Lauren..."

Now it was Aunt Lauren's turn to sigh. "Derek Souza"

I dropped the nail polish wand, and quickly bent to pick it up, thanking God that it hadn't landed on my carpet. I bottled up the nail polish and put it down.

"Derek Souza? Aunt Lauren, have you not heard me rant about that arrogant cocky guy, for an entire year?" I asked. And it was true, I had been ranting about him since I learned that he had rejected my friends' anti computer virus program and had given her a plethora of insults and degrading comments. Tori had sobbed for hours. As bad as I'd felt for her, until I found out what hot-shot Souza had said, I hadn't been that mad. I remember exactly what had happened.

_I shuffled into Tori's room, my arms loaded with magazines. We were going to spend the night pouring over ideas for our Halloween costume. Tori and I took Halloween very seriously. Last year we were Disney Princesses gone bad. It was genius. I was Cinderella turned into Ciller. Tori was Ariel aka; Burial. I pushed open her door with my hip, shutting it with my leg. I dumped the magazines on her bed. _

"_Tori?" I called. I looked around and noted that the window that leads to her roof was open. I grabbed my phone and slipped onto the roof. This was exactly how I first met Tori. I had gone up to Tori's room because Mrs. Enright had let me in, and I'd climbed onto the rood only to see Tori sobbing. _

_I slipped onto the roof and slowly climbed down until I could see her. Tori's black hair was tied up into a messy bun, which was a bad sign. Her hair was only every tied up if she was mad or sad. _

"_Tori?" I called softly, settling down next to her. She didn't say anything, but she did toss me a letter. It was from the Souza and Bae Company. It was a long letter, eventually coming to the conclusion that it had rejected Tori's program. I frowned. It wasn't like Tori to cause havoc over a measly declination for one of her programs. She tossed me another letter; it was different from the last. The other one had been typed and this one was hand written._

Victoria Enright.

Sorry to inform you, but we don't really want your pathetically made program. I don't care if you think you're made to be with Simon, but he doesn't care.

I really don't. –Simon Bae.

And I've gotten tired of having to reject girls for him, so keep your desperate and slutty hands off my brother and I. He doesn't like you. At all. I'm sorry (not really) if this has crushed your hopes and aspirations, but we don't want you or your program.

-Derek Souza.

And

Simon Bae.

_I threw the paper down and scowled. Tori and I spent the rest of the night making plans about how to destroy both Derek Souza and Simon Bae. _

"I'm sorry Chloe. Your father approved of my idea as well. You leave this Thursday." Aunt Lauren announced.

I frowned. "Dad said yes?" I asked.

"Yes honey he did. Do you have his number?"

I frowned again. "He got a new phone?"

"Oh, he didn't tell you? He got the newest iPhone. The 4s I think? Anyway, I'll text you his number and you guys can talk it out. Alright honey? I've just been paged I have to go, sorry. Love you"

"Love you too" I said, as I clicked the end button. I decided not to ring up my dad, because he was probably in a meeting. Instead I called Tori. Normally I would go over to her house, but I couldn't because she was at this super smart people camp with her boyfriend. She picked up on the last ring.

"Hey Chloe" Tori's sultry voice said. "Hey Tori. My aunt and dad signed me up for cooking camp"

I could hear Tori perking up. "That's great Chloe. When do you leave for it?"

"This Thursday" I answered. "But, the instructor is Derek Souza"

"It doesn't matter Chloe. I got over it. Just if you do see Simon Bae, tell him my program got accepted at the Apple Company"

I gasped. "That's awesome Tori!"

"I know. Anyway, face time me in about an hour. We can decide what clothes you take okay?"

"Okay. Tell Aaron I said hi. Bye Tori"

"Bye Chloe"

I hung up and tossed the phone to the floor. I walked over to my dresser and gave myself a once over. My hair was fixed, and my make up wasn't off. My dress was slightly askew, but it could easily be fixed. I grabbed my phone and purse and headed out. I locked the house door, and slipped into my car. I was going to surprise Nate.

Nate and I had been dating for several months, but we'd been friends for about five years. We met in freshman year and hit off when he joined my drama class. I was absolutely head over heels for Nate, and I had been since grade ten. I dialed up Nate and then decided against it. I was going to surprise.

Nate and I had planned that tonight we'd have a romantic dinner and then watch a movie. I was pumped, and excited and absolutely thrilled. Nate had been busy for the last week, baseball meets and hockey games plus finals had him working around the clock. I hadn't seen him since last week, and we'd had this date planned for several weeks. My phone buzzed and I glanced down at the caller. My heart rate picked up. My Aunt had given me the number; it was Derek Souza's number.

My thumb hesitated on the receive button, but I ended up clicking it.

"H-hello?" I asked, mentally cursing my stutter. I'd had it since my mother died eight years ago.

"Hi" a deep baritone voice said. I raised my eyebrows; I'd never assumed that Derek Souza of all people would have such a... alluring voice. Shaking the thought away I returned to the call.

"Hi this is Chloe—"

"Yes, I know. That was why I called. Do you think I just randomly pick up the phone, and decided, 'Hey? I'm going to dial random numbers' you obviously knew it was me, why'd you introduce yourself?"

I scrunched my face and scowled. "You know, next time I'll just yell at you as well"

He laughed but I doubted it was his normal laugh. It sounded sinister. Maybe he was just sinister.

"Grand. We can both yell happily at each other because that will obviously get things done"

I frowned. "Obviously" I said, in a condescending mocking tone.

He cleared his throat. "I called to confirm your arrival at the camp" he stated. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm attending your camp" I said.

"Good. Now I have a package of things to send you, we need to go over several different rules and implications"

I rolled my eyes. "Sorry, call me later. I've got to go"

When he tried to say something, I hung up. Then I started my car, and prepared to go and surprise my not sarcastic and snarky date.

I got to Nate's house ten minutes earlier than I had expected, so I decided to walk up to it and ring the door bell. Nate was supposed to pick me up in an hour, but I might as well surprise him. Maybe I'd get his car keys and sit in his car, and when he went to pick me up I'd pop out of his car and yell "You're late!" Grinning, I started the car up again and parked two streets down. I walked the rest of the way, and came to a stop in front of his door. I rung the bell, and excitedly stepped back knowing it would be his mother. I was right.

"Hello Chloe!" she cried, flinging her arms around me. I loved Nate's mom, she was like the mother Tori and I never had. Tori's mom was always away and barely had time for Tori, and my mother, well, my mother was dead.

"Hi, I was wondering is Nate home?"

She shook her head. "No, he went to run an errand for me. He walked, if you're wondering"

I beamed and explained to her my plan. She smiled happily and handed me Nate's keys. I grabbed them and slipped inside his car. I sat at the very back, and tossed a blanket over my head. I grabbed my phone, and texted Tori. I was telling her about my plan and the call with Derek Souza, when I heard and felt the car door open and I peeked through the blanket to see Nate's fiery red hair. A smile slipped onto my features.

Nate drove for about twenty minutes, and then he parked the car. I waited until he'd slammed the door shut and locked it, before peeping out and looking at where I was. Oddly enough this wasn't my house. I saw Nate knock on the door, and when he turned around I dove under, and hid under the blanket. Nate came back five minutes later. The passenger door opened, and shut. Then the driver's door opened and shut. I waited for a minute before letting out a soft sigh.

"So" Nate said, I tensed. How'd he know I was here?

I was about to say something, when someone beat me to it. "Oh Nate, you really have been spending too much time with her"

I frowned. I turned off my phone and craned my ear towards them, so I could hear their conversation better.

Nate chuckled. "What do you mean?"

The female voice let out a soft yet unnervingly seductive laugh. I tried not to get jealous, it could be his cousin. You never know, I haven't met all of his family and Nate's mother has always been talking about one of his cousins who had a really nice voice. Sort of.

"You know your _girlfriend. _The Saunders girl. Blonde haired and blue eyes, ugh she's such a dumb bimbo" The female said. I frowned. I was not dumb!

"She's not a dumb bimbo. She's so sweet and amazing and—"

"—boring?" the voice said. I squeaked indignantly. Then instantly covered my mouth. But it didn't matter, neither Nate nor his companion heard.

"She's not boring" Nate said again. I smiled.

"She's not exotic and interesting either."

Nate was silent. Completely and utterly silent. My heart rate picked up and as much as I'd like to think this was his cousin I knew, deep down in my heart, that it wasn't.

There was silence before some shifting, and the soft sound of lips pressed against each other. My heart dropped, and I turned stone cold. My boyfriend was cheating on me, IN FRONT of me. Forty-five minutes before or prescheduled date. My life was in ruins.

"Tell her" the girl said.

"Tell her what?" Nate asked. Yeah, what? I thought.

"Tell her about us. Tell her that you love me and I love you"

I heard Nate suck in a breath. He let out a shaky chuckle. "I was going to. After the date" I heard him snap his fingers. And it was as if my world had come crashing down. Nate only ever snapped his fingers when he was guilty about something and telling the truth.

Apparently the other girl knew that as well. She sighed happily, and said, "I'm so happy"

I waited for Nate's answer, knowing that he'd probably say something in my honor.

"Yeah, me too"

My jaw dropped.

"Call her, call her now. I want to go on that date with you. _I _want to go on a romantic dinner with you and then watch a bunch of movies at the theatres"

Nate shuffled in his pocket before pulling out his phone. I decided I'd had enough. I sat up, and pulled the blanket off. I crossed my arms, narrowed my eyes and sat in the middle of the back seat. I watched as Nate dialed my number. My phone rang and Nate and his companion jumped and turned around.

"Hey Nate" I said coldly. Nate gulped. "H-hey Chloe"

I turned my steely gaze to the person occupying the passenger seat, and bit down on my lip to stop myself from bursting into tears. She. Was. Gorgeous. Long dark curly hair that ended just a little after her shoulder blade. Her skin was an exotic copper, and he legs were long and thin. Her eyes were a deep chocolaty brown, with small dabs of darker brown. Her lips were red and pouted, and she was wearing the most elegant dress ever. It came just past her knees, and was backless and strapless. Everything was nicely tucked in, giving her a soft and seductive look.

I looked like a troll on drugs compared to her.

"We're over" I said, feeling the need to say it before he could embarrass me further.

The girl looked at Nate before turning back to look at me. Without leaving my eyes she said, "Tell her Nate"

Nate sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Chloe, I-I've been seeing Rae for several weeks now. She and I go a long way back, and I love her. And what I did was wrong, and I'm sorry, but I can't help but love her" Nate said.

I nodded. I leaned over and slapped him. My palm stung for a bit, but it was worth seeing the look on Nate and Rae's faces. I plucked his car keys and gripped onto them.

"Out" I commanded. The two of them got out of the car, and shut the doors. I climbed into the driver's seat and started the ignition.

"See you never again Nate. I'll tell your mom what happened" I said, before speeding away. It wasn't until I had passed Nate's house did the tears fall.

I wiped another tear away, and scooped up another bite of Creamy Delight. I swallowed and winced. If I didn't end up with a death defying cold the next morning, I'd call myself freeze girl. I turned the volume up on my movie. I'd gone old school after I came home from Nate's house, I'd grabbed three boxes of ice cream, a cooler, a big spoon, several chick flicks and locked myself in my room. Nobody was going to visit me tonight, so I wasn't worrying about anyone interrupting my momentarily fortress of solitude.

Except him.

Nate had been calling me nonstop ever since I drove away with his car. At first he'd been all sympathies, explaining the situation and then he'd turned mad. He spent twenty minutes of the last call yelling at me for taking things badly. I ended up blocking him. Oh well.

My phone started ringing. I picked it up, but before I could say anything the person on the other end beat me to it.

The deep, rough voice of Derek Souza rang out in my room, loud and clear.

"You said to call later"

I scowled, and scratched furiously on my arm. "Yes, I did"

He chuckled. "I've faxed you the package of details, get them and we can go over them"

I got up, and grabbed the sheets from my printer. "I got them" I said. I organised them and stared at the first page. It was a cover, so I flipped the page and went straight to the first section after the table of contents.

"Good. Flip to page four"

After double checking that I was on the right page, I said, "I can read for myself. Do we have to go over _all _the pages?"

"Yes. Read me the first paragraph"

I scowled again. "You're not my dad"

"No, I'm something else. Your instructor, the one who can complain to your dad and tell him you haven't been cooperating"

"Are you blackmailing me?" I questioned, as I read the first paragraph silently to myself.

"No, just stating the obvious"

Sighing, I read aloud the first paragraph. We ended up reading the entire thing, front to back, with _instructor Souza_ making me take notes on the side. The camp hadn't even started and I was already tired. Great.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Yes" he said. I let out a relived sigh and settled back down on my carpet.

"Good, see you on Friday" I said.

"Bye" Derek Souza said. I dumped my phone onto the floor and stretched. Then I picked up my phone again and dialed Tori; might as well update her on my drama. I had nothing better do.

I checked my bags for the last time, ticking everything off my check list again, before I settled into the front seat of Aunt Lauren's car. She was dropping me off at the train station, where I would take the nineteen hour ride to Chicago. Oh the joy.

Aunt Lauren hoped in a few seconds later and started up the car. The first ten minutes were silent.

"It's almost the day" Aunt Lauren said. I shrugged, looking down at the floor of the car. I knew what she was talking about. When I was six years old, my mom, dad and I, had gone on a long drive. My dad had been taking the left turn, when a drunk driver spiraled into the passenger seat of our car. Unfortunately the person occupying that seat was non-other than my mother. She'd died on impact. And my father had woken up to find that half of his heart was gone. I woke up to find out that I didn't have a mother anymore. It had been the worst year of my life.

Every year, on the day that she died I spend it curled up in my room, sobbing or staring into nothing. I haven't cried with anyone since I was seven years old. My dad and I were close, but not as close as mom and I had been. When she died, he could barely look at me. It's my fault though; I was the spitting image of my mom when she was young. Or at least that's what everyone else said. The reason I didn't cry with anyone else around was fairly simple; it was _my_ solo mission. It was the one day that I didn't let Tori into my room, and she understood and took no offence. On mom's birthday, we celebrated. On mother's day we celebrated too. We went to places she liked and spent hours by her grave, just sort of thinking. But on the day she died, it was all silent and sad. Not that we weren't sad on her birthday or anything, it was just that we all figured she'd like her memory to be associated with happy and fun things.

After all, she was a super happy and fun person. Mom used to love bright colors, and so did Dad and I. But after she died it felt wrong to both me and dad, to just hold onto all the things that were meant to be shared between the three of us.

I'd kept all my rooms in my old houses the same color; a vibrant blue and green. Except this year. A few weeks ago I'd renovated my room, and changed the color scheme. Everything in my room was silver, dark blue, black, white or gold. Aunt Lauren had freaked and demanded I take depression pills, because she was refusing to believe that I had changed the colors because I felt more grown up. In her perspective I had finally fallen into the depression that had eaten up my dad. My dad wasn't depressed though; he just liked to focus on other things rather than his dead wife... and living daughter. I didn't mind it too much. Dad took it pretty hard though; he hadn't been out on a date since mom died.

I appreciated that he was loyal to mom for all these years, but at the same time I wished he'd just... let go. She wasn't coming back, not for him or for me. And no matter how much he threw himself into his work, she wasn't going to come back. I hated the fact, but had come to terms with it long ago. He needed to as well.

"I'll be fine" I said. Aunt Lauren nodded, but I could tell that she didn't believe me. We sat in silence until she dropped me off. A hug and kiss later, I was boarding my train to Chicago. Where I would spend the next seven weeks, including my mother's death day, cooking.

Fun.

**That was it for this chapter. Most of the chapters will be roughly around this length. Occasionally they'll be longer or shorter but not by much. How'd you guys like it? I did enjoy writing it. :) I'm not one for just writing fan fiction without a purpose because none of my friends like to read and my family just doesn't get the point of fan fiction. Oh well. ;)**

**That's why I'm going to need the readers to help keep the story alive. I'm not delirious, so I'm not expecting twenty reviews within twenty four hours. Though, I am requesting for five reviews within two weeks. If not, then I'll delete the story. I really don't want to do that. So... read and review!**

**-SurrealExistence **


	2. Chapter 2

**So hi! I'm really quite surprised with the results and reviews; frankly I never expected such a quick response! To those who reviewed—I thank you guys SO much. Your constructive criticism plus opinions literally MADE my day. I'd had a good day on Monday, (despite it being a **_**Monday**_**), then I came home and thought I'd just check the story out... You people have no idea how much I squealed and jumped. *blushes* **

**And if you reviewed with tips, (grammar, spaces, scene changes), I hope that I fixed whatever you qualms you had. :)**

**aylinmuzzio****: thanks! There will be several chapters in Derek's perspective, but they're probably going to happen later in the story, because right now he doesn't have much of an opinion on her; she's just another one of the kid's in his class. **

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN darkest powers, KELLY ARMSTRONG DOES! I do however own the plot and any additional characters I may add. No plagiarism. **

**enjoy!**

**...!...**

_**Chapter Two: Bold as Brass and Startling Realizations **_

I stood in front of a large Maplewood door, with brass knobs and a sliver doorbell. Assuming I was in the right place, there should have been more people here. I checked the time, 10:20—everyone was supposed to be here by 10:30. The very thought that I was early almost made me burst into laughter, which was not something I had been doing much in the last nineteen hours.

Aunt Lauren had called about thirteen hours ago, saying that when she'd gone to my house to make sure everything was locked up, Nate had been there. Apparently he'd been standing there for about an hour, because he wanted to talk to me about two things. One was the break up, and the other was about his car. According to him, I'd managed to get about a centimeter of paint chipped off on the driver's seat. You can imagine how bad I felt for chipping a piece of paint off of his car after he cheated on me, with some girl I didn't even know. How would I _ever_ live with the guilt?

Anyway, he was demanding I pay him off. Nate was obsessed with cars. And it wasn't a healthy obsession, when were friends I had tolerated his obsession, and the way he talked about cars twenty-four seven. He used to spend hours, telling me and Tori about how certain Ferraris were built. When Nate and I started dating, I'd turned a blind eye on his obsession; it was one of those things you did for someone because you cared about them. You ignored their minor faults, only because you liked them as a whole. I wouldn't make that mistake again.

I'd called Nate a few hours ago and told him to back off. I honestly didn't want to spend two out of the seven weeks of my camp, moping around because my ex best friend/ex boyfriend wouldn't let it go. I was determined to get through this camp with flying colors.

At the slight thump of feet falls, my body tensed. I turned around sharply, looking for the cause of the footsteps. I narrowed my eyes, and I bit my lip, zeroing in on the familiar long dark curls and copper skin.

"Hey Chloe" the girl said, a smirk placed on her painfully perfect features.

I glared at her. "Hello" I bit out.

She laughed, and it wasn't the annoying kind. It was a full out, loud yet... attractive laugh. I could feel jealousy boil at the pit of my stomach. Why did her laugh have to make her look even more attractive? When I laughed like that, I looked ridiculous and dorky.

"Oh Chloe, don't be so hostile. You haven't even addressed me by my name" she taunted.

I rolled my eyes. "I can't remember it. Sad, isn't it?"

She frowned. "It's Rachelle Rodgers. Or, Rae for short"

Now it was my turn to smirk. "Okay, _Rae. _Tell me why, I don't know your name and you knew mine"

The moment the words slipped out, I regretted it. Whenever I was bold, something bad happened. I knew people like her, people who loved having the upper hand, and when they didn't have it, they played dirty until they got it back.

Rae smirked, resting a manicured hand on her curvy hip. "I wanted to know the name of the girl whose boyfriend I was sucking face with"

Instantly my mood soured. I rolled my eyes again, turning from the losing battle and pulled out my phone. Ignoring the five missed calls and messages from Nate, I scrolled down until I saw Tori's name. I decided not to call her, because if I did, my mind would turn back what just happened, and I'd fall into another bad mood.

As time passed, several more people came. I'd been told the class was a class of twenty, so I was quite surprised when only eight (not including Rae and I,) showed up. At exactly 10:30, the Maplewood door sprung open revealing a tall Asian man with almond shaped eyes and spiky blond hair.

"Hi" he said, beaming. "I'm Simon Bae—one of Derek's co-workers. And his brother"

The few people that were there gave small nods and smiles. If Simon wasn't happy with the reaction, he didn't let on.

"Follow me" he said. Grabbing my bags, I quickly followed after him. He led us to a big room, one I'd assume to be the dining room. It had several benches, reminding me of middle school lunch tables. Simon told us to drop out bags on the tables, but take the carry on. I grabbed the small black bag that contained my charger, a few essentials, and my phone. Simon had us follow him through the dining hall, and into another room, with a stage and a dozen chairs.

After taking a seat next to a red haired girl, who looked to be my age, I pulled out my phone and turned it off. I was not, under any circumstances, going to be the one idiot whose phone goes off during the middle of a speech. Been there, done that, don't want to go back.

The girl next to me turned my way and smiled. I smiled back. "I'm Mila Andrews" she said. I gave a nod. "Chloe Saunders"

She was about to say something else when the doors slammed open. Everyone turned around. Several people strutted into the room, I counted about five before I realised they were probably all students. My theory was proven right when all of them took seats on the chairs laid out for us.

Simon gave them nods before he walked over to the stage and hopped on. He crossed his legs and whistled. We all quieted down and tuned our attention on him. Except Rae and two other girls. When he called out "ladies" they still didn't turn. Which made me snort; whenever someone calls out 'ladies' and I'm talking to my female friends, I turn around. What did they think he was going to address them as, princesses?

Simon smiled slightly. "Hey Derek" he called out. Instantly three heads whipped towards Simon, who was shaking with silent laughter.

One of Rae's companions, a brunette, raised her hand. When Simon called on her, she asked, "Where's Derek?"

Simon smirked, but his smirk wasn't directed at her, it was directed behind her. I glanced at the figure standing behind her, and immediately knew who it was and why Tori had applied to the Souza and Bae Company.

Derek Souza was hot as hell.

Unlike Simon, his hair was pitch black and falling into his eyes in an adorable bad-boy sort of way. It looked soft yet spiky. His skin was a deep olive tan, and even with his long sleeved loose shirt, it was obvious that Derek Souza was well built. But while his physical aspects were endearing, it was his facial features that had me at a loss for words. His cheek bones were sharp and clear, and his jaw bone was pronounced. But his eyes, his jaded orbs, were probably the key aspect as to why Derek Souza was so popular amongst the ladies. Bright, vibrant jade eyes stared back at Simon. But the one thing that threw me off Derek Souza's chase was the confident, cocky smirk on his face.

"Right here" he said, gazing down at the girl with an appraising and expectant look. She smiled, but it wasn't a sweet smile, it was the kind that got all the girls with hot boyfriends anxious. It was the 'To Kill a Relationship' smile. She flipped her hair away from her face, making sure he saw the dip in her shirt. She looked up at him, batting her eyelashes and shifting her shirt for more _view_.

To my immense displeasure, but not for the reason you'd think, Derek Souza took full advantage of the views he was presented. He gave her a big wink, smirked at Simon and side stepped her as he made his way towards Simon.

Mila snorted as Derek Souza walked past us. He turned around, and looked at her. He crossed his biceps, which were pretty much the epitome of what male biceps should like, and loomed over her. Even with one person, and three chairs between us, I could still smell his spicy cologne. It was the expensive kind that smelled like an exotic type of spice. It would probably smell good no matter what, but mixed with Derek's natural scent—Earthy with a bit of that purely _male_ aura—it smelled like heaven and cupcakes.

He cleared his throat. "Who are you?" he asked, eyes narrowing. Mila rolled her eyes, "Mila Andrews". He nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"So, Mila, how exactly do you make a Beef Wellington?"

When Mila didn't answer, just gawked at him, he said; "This is why _I'm _the teacher and _you're_ the student"

Mila scowled as her cheeks flushed. Turning her head away, she glared at the ground. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that the girl who had gone all _desperate_ on Derek, and the girl beside her, smirked. I rolled my eyes at their rudeness, and glanced at Mila.

"And who are you?" Derek Souza asked, looking at me. Only he stopped looming, and gave me the same look that he'd given to the brunette. I realised that he was expecting me to live up to his expectations. I hated when people judged others.

Careful not to stutter, I said, "Chloe Saunders". Recognition slid into his eyes, and I watched with relief as the look disappeared, replaced with a neutral yet amused stare.

Derek didn't say anything and he strolled over to Simon, and plopped down next to him.

"So, towards today's schedule, we're first going to introduce ourselves, drop off your stuff at your rooms and then take a tour of the place amongst other things" Derek announced. Everyone nodded and mumbled their agreements.

"We can start with you bro" Simon said, looking at Derek. Derek shrugged.

"I'm Derek Souza. Twenty-three, and head instructor. " He said, waving. "You can call me Derek, but, during classes you will call me Instructor Souza" Simon chuckled. Derek smirked and said, "I'm single". Simon started laughing. Derek rolled his eyes and shoved Simon slightly.

Simon stopped laughing. "Simon Bae, twenty two. You can call me Simon no matter what"

Derek looked at Rae and said, "You start of the introductions and we can go clockwise"

Rae nodded, and I noticed that she didn't give Derek a second glance. I did however notice the way she looked at Simon; almost like she could eat him.

"I'm Rachelle Rodgers—Rae for short. Twenty and... It's complicated" she said with a smirk, that I couldn't help but feel was directed to me. The brunette who had talked to Derek previously spoke up. "Amber Long. Twenty and single"

The other girl next to her said. "Jasmine Barnes.—Jazz for short. Twenty and single"

It was kind of pathetic that all of them had announced their relationship status, I mean it's not like this was being recorded and posted on Face book or something. I was glad when nobody else announced their relationship status. When it was Mila's turn she simply said, "Mila Andrews. Nineteen"

When it was my turn I made sure to focus on something and not stare randomly, before saying, "Chloe Saunders. Nineteen"

After everyone was done, we were led back to the room where we had left all of our stuff. Simon asked all the guys to come with him, and Derek gestured at the girls to follow him. Amber, Jasmine and Rae walked with Derek.

Mila and I gathered our stuff and followed the rest of the group. I noticed that Rae, Jasmine and Amber all wore the exact same clothing.

"So, where do you come from?" Mila asked. I smiled. "When two people love each other very mu—"

Mila laughed and hit me with the edge of her bag. "I'm from New York" she said.

"Really? I'm from New York too" I said, surprised. Mila grinned, "It's a small world"

We took the elevator to the eighth floor, where Derek had all of us stand in a line as he grouped us. Mila was grouped with three other girls, and I was unfortunately grouped with Amber, Rae, and Jasmine. There were people left, sisters—Ally and Sophia, who had requested to share a room. Derek lead Mila's group and the sisters, away and told us to stay.

Jasmine and Amber gathered together and yelled out "Bye Derek" in really flirty voices, giggling when Derek turned around to give them cocky smiles. I rolled my eyes. Jasmine saw and her eyes narrowed.

"Don't act like you don't like Derek" she said, resting a hand on her hip.

"I don't" I said.

Amber scrunched up her face and looked at me. Then she smirked. "Oh, so you play for the _other_ team?"

At this both Jasmine and Amber burst out laughing, Rae rolled her eyes.

"She doesn't like Derek" Rae said. I mentally frowned, why was she sticking up for me? My question was answered when Rae laughed and said, "She's still moping over Nate. Get over him Chloe, he certainly wouldn't settle for ... the under developed"

The three of them laughed, and I cannot honestly say it didn't bother me. When they laughed, I didn't care. But saying that Nate wouldn't settle for me, sort of hit a soft spot. As I kid I was never that gorgeous. I was never the kid they picked first on the teams, or the kid that had the most relationships or was even that pretty. Freshman year, I could still be mistaken for a twelve year old. Things got better as the years passed, but when I first started to date Nate a constant thought kept coming to mind.

Nate was super popular, despite hanging out with me. When we started dating, I'd attempted to fix myself up. Make up, different and more flattering clothes. I always thought that maybe he'd break up with me because I wasn't good enough for him. My worst case scenario was always that Nate would cheat on me with somebody older and more gorgeous. And having that scenario come true and have someone point it out made my day ten times worse.

I wouldn't let Rae and her friends know.

I laughed. "It's quite sad that you have to go for people younger than you"

Rae looked surprised, but she covered with a snapped, "I didn't go for him. He went for me"

I smiled skeptically, even thought I was mentally dying. My 'death' was delayed by Derek walking over and saying "Follow me"

I made sure I was behind Rae, Jasmine and Amber, before following. Derek led us to the east wing, where he told us all our room numbers. He also said that he was going to wait out here while we freshened up. After I dumped my stuff and freshened up, I went back to where Derek was waiting.

He was looking at his phone, eyes neutral with no flicker of emotion.

I pulled out my phone and smiled at the text Tori had sent. Aaron had bought her a bouquet of gift cards to the Apple store. I was really happy for Tori. She'd had a rough time considering boys over the years; they'd either cheated on her, or were just not compatible to her. Tori was really nice when you got past her walls, but until them she was rude, heartless, snarky and cold. But she was still drop dead gorgeous.

I was kind of disappointed that Derek didn't acknowledge. But then again, the last time he'd looked at me, he had expected me to be a push over and easy. I and I was certainly not either of those. I had been a pushover from middle school to freshman year, bet junior year I had grown into myself and had gained the confidence that came with age and maturity.

Derek looked up when the doors opened, and Rae and her friends stepped out. He grinned and smirked at the girls before slowly starting to walk towards the elevators. When we got to the elevators we saw Mila's group, and the sisters, waiting for us. I walked over to Mila and stood next to her, wanting to get away from Rae and her friends.

"How is it rooming with the witches?" she whispered, as we waited to get into the elevator.

"Not that bad, mostly because I just live in the same hallway as them and with them"

Mila smiled, and slipped into the elevator with me close behind her.

...!...

After a tour of the place, we went to the dining room to get more instructions. Since we'd finished the tour early, we had an extra three hours to either walk around Chicago or relax. Mila and I opted to explore, but we decided to find a fast food restaurant first and stuff ourselves with McDonalds.

"Last couple of things" Simon shouted. We all turned to him. "Curfew is whenever you like. But, you have to be up by nine every weekday and ten on weekends. Classes end at eight"

There were a few shouts and groans, but everyone cleared out and headed for the door as well. Mila and I went back to our rooms to lock them—we'd all just been given keys—and grab a sweater. I also grabbed my wallet.

As we walked out, I realised something. Most of the girls flirted with Derek; I hadn't seen a single one flirt with Simon besides Rae.

"It's because he has a girl friend" Mila answered.

I frowned. "That doesn't always stop people"

Mila gave a nod, "Yeah, but it just so happens that there's a rumor that Derek sent an angry letter to this girl who tried to get in with Simon when he had a girlfriend. Nobody tries it anymore"

I widened my eyes, but Mila didn't see so I was okay. Suddenly Mila started running, when she saw my questioning look, she pointed at a bus. Getting the message I ran after her.

We took the bus to a McDonalds that Mila had found the address for and got a table by the corner. Mila and I got our orders, and took our food back to the table. We ate while we talked.

"How many siblings do you have?" Mila asked. I grinned. "Guess"

Mila swallowed and confidently said, "Two brothers"

I laughed. "Nope. Why'd you think that?"

Mila shrugged, "I want to be a psychologist, and every time I meet someone, I try to guess things about them, judging by simple things, like their voices and shoulders and stuff. Anyway, you've got this sort of _barrier_ and _hardness _about you. You don't see that in only children, or people with sisters. My best friend has two brothers and you have the same tone and shoulder positioning as her. It's like you feel like it's you against the world, but you do know someone has your back"

I smiled sadly. "Your right about my interpretation of life, but I am an only child. My mom died when I was six years old"

Mila looked quite surprised before understanding dawned on her. "Oh."

I smiled and took another sip of my drink.

"What about you?" I asked.

Mila grinned. "Two brothers a-and one sister" Her grin died as she said 'sister'.

I looked at her closely, when she noticed my stare she said, "Drunk driver killed her"

I gasped. "How old was she?"

"Thirteen"

As touched as I was that Mila shared that with me, I really didn't want to talk about sad and depressing things right now. Mila and I changed the topic, and had a long conversation about anything and everything else. I threw down the tip and Mila and I exited.

We took a walk afterwards, talking and making jokes. It was fun to talk to someone else, face to face, after several days locked in my room. Nate hadn't called me, and I was really happy about that. Mila was talking about her boyfriend when someone bumped into me. I scrambled to regain my composure and checked that I still had my wallet and cell phone. I did.

Mila was glaring at the person who had bumped into me. I looked at them and sighed, of course they had to be like twenty feet taller than me. Of course.

My pusher had blue eyes, and blond hair. He also had that abashed look on his face that I simply adored. Mila seemed to like it as well, because the moment it appeared on his face her glare softened.

"Sorry" the guy said, ruffling his hair. When he realised what he was doing, he quickly attempted to flatten it. "Oops" he said.

"It's okay" I said. He grinned, and the abashed and shy look on his face disintegrated. Instead of being annoyed that I had just gotten played, I laughed.

"I'm Daniel" he said. I nodded and said, "I'm Chloe and this is Mila"

Daniel said hello to her, before apologising again and waving farewell.

"Well that was weird" Mila said. I shrugged. "Happens all the time, people barely notice me because I'm that small"

Mila threw her head back and laughed. She ruffled my hair and said, "Now people will notice your hair first"

When I punched her, she danced back and said, "They might even acknowledge you as a crazy furred hamster!"

I rolled my eyes and chuckled despite her insults to my very threatening height. Threatening to the ant's maybe.

...!...

I looked up at the sky from where we were lying down. Mila and I had been star gazing for about five minutes now, and I was going to fall asleep soon. Mila's eyes were closed and her arms were crossed behind her head, legs were on top of each other. Her hair wasn't actually as red as I'd first thought. It was really a muted auburn, but if there was a yellow let shining on it her hair looked red. She had been complaining about it a few minutes ago when I pointed it out.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, letting the wind dance through my hair. It had been a long time since the world had been this quiet. But by quiet I don't mean silence; it was quite loud, with the cars honking and the general noise of people. But there was something peaceful about sitting outside in the moonlight, in a park, letting the calmness of the city lights dance around you. Even when I use Tori's roof for some quiet time, it's never like this; mostly because there is nothing _alive_ about our neighbourhood. But this park, at night, in the moonlight? There was something _real_ and—and _alive_ about this place.

I absolutely loved it.

"Excuse me" someone said. My eyes snapped open, to see a tall male figure looking at me curiously, one eyebrow raised.

I sat up and ran a hand through my hair, subconsciously trying to tame it.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.

The guy shrugged. "Nothing, I had nothing to do so I thought I'd say something"

I laughed. "Okay then"

He gestured to the left of me, the side away from Mila, and I nodded. Plopping down, he looked straight ahead.

I watched him, and tried to get a sense of how old he was. He looked to be in his early twenties, but I'd always been really bad at guessing ages. So he could even be in his late twenties. He looked quite young though, his brown hair was rumpled and wild, but had an air of the I-just-rolled-out-of-bed look. His eyes were hazel and had flecks of lots of different colors, his skin was tan but cheeks were rosy and flushed.

"I used to come out here, when I was a kid" he said softly.

I looked over at him, surprised, before quickly facing away. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, when I was a kid and I couldn't really _go_ anywhere, I used to come here to think."

"About—?" I asked, wondering what he could have possibly thought about.

He laughed softly. "About the stupidest things; girls, my mom finding the _Playboy_ magazine underneath my mattress, or the twenty I stole from my dad's wallet. I used to think the worst thing in life was getting embarrassed, losing a bet, getting grounded...life is so much bigger than that. Life's about getting to things you'll never get to do before. It's about taking risks and ... making the people you care about, proud"

I looked down and my hands, entranced by his words.

He laughed. "God, I sound so stupid. Sorry about that"

I shrugged. "It's cool"

He shook his head, looking at the ground. "Do you live near here?"

I laughed inwardly thinking about Aunt Lauren's face if I explained that I let a random stranger sit next to me, while my friend slept unassumingly, and ask me questions, at night, in a secluded area... where no one could hear me...My heart started pumping faster and my fingers clenched.

"N-no" I said. I turned to Mila and attempted to shake her awake.

I heard the stranger shift and take something from his pocket and I screamed.

...!...

**I didn't actually intend on ending with a cliff hanger, but somehow I ended up stopping there. I wrote/posted this much earlier than I had planned, mostly because of the awesome reviews. And I'm super sorry to say that I might not post for the next two weekends, because I'm going to be frantic with tests and essays. BUT you guys must have an idea as to what will make me update faster! ;)**

**Anyhow, so I had an idea for a Chlerek one shot, and I was wondering if you guys wanted to read it? It's sad though, but I loved writing it, so if you **_**do**_** want to read it, review and tell me. **

**-SurrealExistence**


	3. Chapter 3

**#twoupdatesinaday #winning**

**Sorry for the delay but my eventual plan was to publish this on Friday but someone reviewed and then I ended up posting today. You should all thank; **taradhillon **they are the reason I updated today! ;)**

**Disclaimer: I only own what you don't already recognize. No plagiarism. **

-11111-

"Whoa! Whoa!" The stranger said, diving backwards, away from me. "Relax, I was getting my phone. Worry not!"

I felt my face light up, and I looked away. God, I was such an idiot. Why would he take out a knife on me anyway? I was a shrimp compared to him; he could easily over power me. I glanced over at Mila, she was still sleeping. I turned back to the stranger—not entirely reassured that he wasn't going to kill me or worse.

He was looking at his phone, but when he saw me looking at him, he stopped. He got to his feet and dusted his pants off. "I'm going to go now. Bye!"

He ran off before I could say anything, which relieved me a bit. I honestly didn't want to really say anything anyways. I shook Mila awake, and gathered my stuff.

Mila turned to me. "What did I miss?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Let's get going. I want to get back and look through some old recipes; Souza doesn't seem like a very patient person" I replied, getting to my feet. Mila followed suit, and we walked back.

-11111-

"So, the recipes are on your tables. The ingredients are in the pantry, you will retrieve them after I give you the go sign. First we need to go over some basic ground rules" Derek rumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter. We all watched as he flipped through a folder and pulled out a piece of paper.

"Every week, on the weekend, we do a big dinner. How well you cook the recipes we give you, determines what you get to eat at the dinner. The person, who cooks the best today, will get to determine what everyone—including staff and guests—is going to eat, next weekend. The person, who cooks the best, will also get to determine the roles of everybody else in this room, ranging from dishwasher to plate decorator. You have till this ringer goes off to finish your recipe. So I suggest you cook well. You have five minutes to gather everything you need"

Simon waited for a few seconds before yelling, "Go!"

Everyone rushed to the pantry, but I stayed and glanced down at the recipe. The recipe itself was simple enough, but the really tricky part was the actual process. It required a lot of time—and preciseness. I knew for a fact—that the moment someone left the pantry they wouldn't be allowed to go back. I looked at the ingredients one last time and dove to the pantry.

I had everything except the butter, and when I went to get the last package of butter, someone grabbed it before me. Rachael threw it to the floor and smashed it with her foot, before smirking at me and running off. I groaned and grabbed some margarine instead, and some extra flavour filled herbs and spices before racing towards my station.

I made the first half of the recipe—the dough. The second part of the recipe was the batter of the pie, and my heart sunk when I remembered something. My mom used to make this, and she always said that butter was a crucial component of the batter. The butter made the batter soft, but not syrupy it added the silky texture. Without the butter my pie would be gushy with no real substance. I looked around desperately, when I realised what I would do. I spooned two scoops of margarine into a bowl, then I grabbed some spices—nutmeg—and nuts, and tossed them into the mix. I mixed the combination, and added it the batter. Once the batter was mixed, I poured it into the pie dough. I placed the pie into the oven, and turned up the heat.

Then I thought for a moment. I would need to add an icing that made the margarine combination pop out. I grabbed the sugar, and some oranges from the basket. I peeled the orange and juiced it. I added some juiced grapes, cherries and strawberries to the mix. Then I mixed the several flavoured juices and tossed them into the batter for the icing. I'd never done this before—I didn't even know if it was possible. I finished the icing, and pulled out the pie. I added the icing to the pie, before placing the pie back into the oven. I sat down, pressed the light button on the oven, and kept a close watch on the icing. I had to let it bake, but I couldn't have it look brown. It had to have the golden toasty, marsh mellow look.

When the pie was done—with barely three minutes till the ringer went off—I sliced up some kiwi and strawberry and placed it on the pie's centre.

The ringer went off, and everyone went silent.

Simon gave us all smiles, but Derek's face remained impassive.

"Good job guys. We're going to have a look at all of these, and announce the winner later. For now, I suggest all of you get some rest, eat something and prepare for the coaching you'll receive later" Simon announced, clapping his hands together.

Everyone looked at their pies one last time before turning and walking away. I looked around for Mila. She was gone. Sighing, I brushed my hands on the apron, took it off and placed it next to the pie. I turned and was about to leave, when my name was called.

"Chloe?" Simon asked. I walked slowly over to him, surprised to find that Derek was already gone.

"Yeah?" I asked, hesitantly.

"This came in the mail, I have no clue who sent it, but it's for you" Simon said, handing me an envelope with my name written in perfect cursive. I took it, and gripped it confusedly.

"Thanks" I said, before turning and walking away.

Since I couldn't find Mila, I went up to my room to freshen up.

()()

A quick shower and change of clothes later, I was sitting in the courtyard that was behind the building where we were staying. The weather was remotely nice, so I had on a simple t-shirt and jeans. I also had a wool cardigan, but that was in case it got chilly. I stretched out on the swing and pushed off with my arm, before nestling into the swing and opening up the envelope. The letter itself was made of parchment, and the writing was written in ink. This was weird because these days, any letters that I received were typed up. It was a nice change of environment.

The letter was short but written very neatly.

_Dear my sweet and innocent Chloe, _

_It's my unfortunate displeasure to inform you of the awkward meet you and my ... acquaintance had the other day. I didn't mean for him to startle you. He is being punished for his crimes. But, needless to say, you didn't handle him very well. Boys like those are meant to be overpowered, but it slipped my mind that you didn't have the confidence. That brings us to our newest topic; confidence. Something you are in dire need of. How else are you going to win the awards presented to the best cook of the course? I can imagine your puzzled face wondering about 'what award?' To fix your question, every year that this course is held someone is given an award for cooking the best and growing the most. I think you need to win this competition this year. _

_Anyways, recently I acquired information about your rather public break up with Nathaniel. Pity. I thought you too were very good together. I hear that he was with a Rachelle Rodgers, during the time you were with him. Unfortunately, she seems to be in this course a well. Worry not; she'll be easy to get rid of. She is a very good cook though, so you might have to work double the effort if you ever find yourself facing off with her. The stunt you pulled with the margarine today was unique. It's always enthralling to find that people your age manage to make the best of difficult times. _

_You must be wondering who I am... I assure you I am nobody of harm. In fact, consider me someone of substantial value. However, I am not a Willy. Think of me as more of a Howard. _

_Remember, you need to win this award/competition. Do not let me down. _

_I am willing to provide you with ingredients of any sort, just say the word. _

_Should you need to contact me, just go to the address below and leave me a letter. _

_Sincerely, _

_Your guardian angel. _

Suddenly the weather didn't seem remotely nice; it felt chilly. I pulled my cardigan on, and got to my feet. Shaking off my suspicions, I ran a hand through my hair.

"It's probably a prank" I whispered to myself. And I was right; it was most likely Rachelle. How else would anybody else know in great detail about my break up with Nate? She was probably trying to trick me into accepting help, and then framing me for cheating. But the only thing not letting me leave my mind to rest was the fact the letter mentioned the encounter I had with the stranger yesterday. How would Rachelle now about that? Finally deciding that it was probably one of her exes doing her bidding, I stretched and grabbed the letter, and slowly made my way up to my room.

After I had ditched the letter in my room, I went back to the kitchen to see if I could find someone to talk to. Nobody was in the room that we had made our pies in, so I walked around for a bit. I came upon a door that had nice smells wafting out of it. I knocked on it, but nobody answered, so I pushed it open.

It was big and homey looking kitchen. It reminded me of the kitchen from my childhood. It was big and glowing from all the lights. It was also very warm, but that was the way most kitchens were. My gaze fell onto an elderly woman stirring something in a pot. I cleared my throat.

She turned around sharply. "Can I help you?"

I nodded. "I was just looking around and I found this place. Do you mind if I were to look around?"

She gave me a warm smile and said, "I don't mind at all" She frowned and cocked her head to the side, "You look familiar"

I blinked. "Oh—I've never been here before"

She laughed. "I meant your general appearance. You remind me of one of my daughter's friends"

I smiled at her, "Really? What was your daughter's friend's name?"

"Jennifer Fellows"

My stomach hurt. "Oh—that would be my mom"

The woman smiled happily. "My daughter said that Jen had moved somewhere, and never responded to any emails she sent. Most unfortunate. Will Jen be dropping by?"

I shook my head slowly. "My mom died when I was six years old"

I hate telling people that my mom was dead because it makes things awkward, but she seems to understand my dilemma.

"I'm Linda" She says, walking over to the fridge and pulling out some eggs. She grabs a bowl and beckons me forward. "Crack these for me. Then you can get started on the mix"

I don't feel like walking around by myself for the next hour and a half, so I walked over and began the cracking of the eggs.

()()

It turned out that Linda loved to talk and cook. She and I spent hours talking and cooking. She has two grandkids, one is fifteen and the other is twenty. Her granddaughter had just turned fifteen, and was coming over next week with her older brother. I was excited to meet them. Linda also seemed to like to gossip, she told me about Derek's escapades and about Simon's girlfriend Liz, who would be dropping by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I told her about moving around a lot, and about how cooking was one of the only things I could do with grace. I also told her about my friends. Linda was a really good cook, she never once referred to any of the recipe books, but somehow they seemed perfect. (I was the taste tester)

"Oh and add some more salt to that" Linda said, gesturing to the soup. I added a pinch more salt, grabbed a spoon and tasted it. Giving her thumbs up, I went back to chopping the parsley.

"Thinner—like that. Good." She commented, throwing the meat into the oven. I watched fascinated, as she added the weirdest combination of spices to one specific portion of meat. She placed it in her oven, and turned the heat all the way up. She handed me another portion of meat and said, "Add a combination of spices and see how they turn out. You don't want to experiment during a tutor class with Derek and Simon. Now tell me more about this Nate boy"

I laughed, and sprinkled the parsley into the soup. I added my own combination of spices and placed the portion into the oven. "Well to be fair, I honestly don't want to think about him anymore. Betrayal is painful enough"

Linda smiled. "Boys like those are so easy to find. It's the ones that are worth the heart ache that are rare"

I shrugged. "Apparently I haven't found one like that"

Linda gave me a sly smile. "I know one that's found you"

When I asked who it was, she just gave me a sly smile and refused to answer. So I changed the topic.

"So, how long have you been here?" I asked.

She threw some yogurt into the marinating process I was doing, before she replied. "Since the course started. When Derek and Simon were younger, they used talk about opening up a cooking place" She laughed. "When Derek became famous, he and Simon finally got to do their dreams. I never thought Derek would really look into the cooking field, he was always more of a physics type"

I raised an eyebrow. "Really? To me he seems to be more like an arrogant jerk"

Linda laughed. "He's only that way with girls because he doesn't trust them. His mother threw him away when he was younger, and he's never had a motherly figure or a sister to trust. To him, girls don't deserve respect. He sees that quality in most of the women he spends time with, which is why he continues to assume all women are like that" She shakes her head, almost to herself. "I'm waiting for him to find the right girl, the girl that will hit respect into him. He bends easily when he's surprised"

I snorted skeptically. "He still seems like an arrogant jerk to me"

Linda shot me a grin. "Maybe you're the girl who will knock some sense into him"

I grimaced. "No thank you. I'll stick to getting my heartbroken"

Linda gave me a sly look. "Whatever you say. Add more sauce to the soup"

I poured a cup more sauce into the soup, and then had Linda identify the taste. "Good" She said, flippantly. "You're good with measurements"

I beamed. "Your meat is almost done" I said, pointing at the oven. She moved quickly over to it, and placed it on several mats. She flipped it over, poked with a wand like contraption, and then deemed it ready.

"For the soup!" She suddenly cried. I looked over at her, amused.

"Get me some of these spices from the storage room!" I laughed, and ran to the storage room.

It was humongous—this task was going to take a while. I started at the front side—turned out they were in alphabetical order. Thankfully I had the names of the spices. I started at B. I was halfway through C, when I heard someone talking to Linda. I ignored it, and ploughed through. When I found the spices, I exited the storage room and found Linda.

"I found the spices" I said, handing the individual jars to her. "Who came in?"

Linda added only a pinch of each spice to the soup before saying, "Derek. He usually stops by to make sure I'm okay. I had a heart attack several years ago—and he's been paranoid since. I had him try out the meat you spiced"

I widened my eyes. "What did he say?"

"He said it was brilliant, and he wanted to place it on this week's menu. We're having a dinner this Friday—and you're on the menu"

I flushed and the joke, and said, "That's pretty cool"

"Here, try this—"She said, giving me a spoonful of the hot lentil and shrimp soup. I took in the spoonful and swallowed. My taste buds were on fire from the spice—but they were also enjoying themselves.

"It's really delicious!" I said, taking another spoonful.

Linda beamed happily. "Tell you what, if you come down here every day—I'll let you take home some food. And I'll teach you some tricks"

"I'd love to" I said, sneaking in another spoonful of the soup.

"Stop eating the soup!" She cried, laughing. I grinned cheekily, before tossing the spoon into sink.

!?

The coaching session with Derek was interesting at best. He was really impassive and stoic when he was showing us techniques and tricks. I found it interesting because normally he's super cocky and arrogant when he talks to girls, but he was really serious throughout the session. Rae attempted to make a move on Simon, but Simon moved away quickly and announced that he needed to go and make preparations for his girlfriend's stay. Some of Derek's followers, tried to flirt with him but he completely ignored them.

"It's all about the physics and chemical reaction" He stated, pointing at the way the oil moved from the spice. I was starting to get the impression that he was too engrossed in the physics of cooking, rather than the art of it. Someone else seemed to notice it as well, but they made the mistake of mentioning it.

"Isn't cooking and art?" Peter asked.

Derek narrowed his eyes and glared at Peter. Everyone else in the room gave him looks. Amber smirked, and crossed her arms—she certainly knew there was going to be a show.

"If you don't like the way I cook you can leave" Derek said, stonily.

Peter flushed. "No-I just-just" He has a stuttering problem, I thought.

Derek raised an eyebrow. "W-well?" He mocked.

I felt myself get annoyed. I'd always hated people like Derek in high school; they used to make fun of my stutter. Eventually I grew out of the stutter and into my own skin, and the teasing stopped.

Peter turned bright red noticing that his stutter had been pointed out. "I-I" He took a deep breath. "I-I'm s-sorry"

Derek snorted. "Can you at least finish the sentence?"

Everyone burst out laughing, except me.

Peter, if possible, looked even more humiliated and pained. "I-I-I"

Derek laughed cruelly. He took fake huge breaths and pretended to stutter through a sentence. Peter's face burned and he bit his lip, looking down. I couldn't take anymore of this.

"Shut up, you arrogant prick" I said to Derek.

His head, along with everybody else's, turned to me.

"Excuse me?" He asked, walking over to me. He loomed over me, but I refused to get intimidated by the significant size and height difference

"You heard what I said; stop deploying people's weaknesses so you can make yourself look better"

He snorted again, crossing his arms and leaning against a counter. "Believe me, I don't need to try and make myself look better, I'm already gorgeous"

"Doesn't seem that way" I said nonchalantly. "You always seem to need to have people hanging from your arms to prove that you're attractive"

He looked momentarily surprised before his face broke into a smirk. "I don't ever ask them to hang onto my arms. Do I ladies?" The girls nodded vigorously.

"Then why are they always there?" I asked.

"Jealous much?" He sneered.

I rolled my eyes. "Jealous of what? You're ideal that people are inferior to you?"

"I never said that he was inferior to me!"

I scowled. "You insinuated it"

"No I did not!" He sneered.

"Yeah, you did" I said again, adding a tilt to my voice.

Derek sighed, "Alright sunshine. For your sake I'll apologize for _insinuating _my superiority to Peter over here"

He turned to Peter and apologized. Then he turned back to me and said, "Satisfied?"

I nodded. "Very much so. Now get back to the lesson and stop making a scene"

His eyes held surprise for a moment before they went back to normal. "Whatever you say"

I smiled to myself. Apparently Linda was right; he did bend easily under the element of surprise.

**AN: I hope you enjoyed that chapter and the small Derek and Chloe moment we had. **

**I won't have time to write another update for while, but I promise it will be much faster than this update. Some things you can do to quicken the process are:**

**Read and Review my sad one-shot that might turn into a collection of one shots.**

**Vote in the poll regarding the length in this story, which I am now referring to as SSS. ;)**

**Last but not least, review this chapter!**

**And if you guys have any scenes you want in the story, review, and tell me what they are. Also, I adore writing one shots, so if you guys have any prompts, message them to me! **

**~SurrealExistence**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm sorry I didn't get around to updating yesterday. But worry not—no more late updates! **

**(I hope)**

**Disclaimer: Still only own what you don't recognize. **

**Creds to: HHLOVER39 because their repetitive reviews not only make me laugh and cheer me up, but they ALSO provoked me into updating. ;) Hope you enjoy the chapter 'HHLOVER39' !**

**()()**

_I fell in love with you the way you fall asleep;_

_Slowly and then all at once_

I love sleeping.

It's probably one of the most amazing things our extensive human capabilities lets us do; sleep. I love closing my eyes one moment, and then waking up befuddled before becoming acutely aware of my surroundings. I also enjoy the feeling you get when you fall asleep; if a guy could make me feel what falling asleep did, I'd be head over snores for him. Another mind blowing component about sleep is; that you can do it anywhere. Though I suppose there are limitations. (Rockets and sky diving).

But there was one thing about sleep—asides from waking up—that I absolutely detested.

You couldn't stop people from doing things to you in your sleep.

So when I was sleeping peacefully, Rae and her minions snuck in and threw all my clothes into my bath tub and soaked them in water, leaving me only my underwear and shoes. It was amusing to find that they left me that stuff because they assumed I was too much of a prude to even bother trying to pull off the look. I was also saddened to say they were right. With nothing to wear, and the clock almost ten minutes away from signaling the start of the class, I was in a sticky situation. Mila had been MIA on me recently, though I was pretty sure she shows up for classes. I would chase her down, but with all the pressure of cooking and dealing with my own baggage, I had no spare time. With my only friend missing, I had no one to turn to. I didn't want to ask the snobby girls for a change of clothes—mainly because they were snobby—and also because I had a feeling that Rae and her minions were ready to get a close up of me if I even dared to leave the apartment.

The end result was my dire need of a rescue and/or back up plan. Unfortunately I had neither, but I could quickly make the latter. I searched through my soaked belongings, until I found something not as soaked. I grabbed my hair dryer and went on it at full blast, wincing at the time. I eventually realised it was hopeless, so I tossed the now semi dry shirt into the bathtub. I walked over to my bed, and looked underneath it for the spare bag Aunt Lauren had given me. She said I might need some of the stuff in it. I opened the bag up and was relieved to find a fresh change of clothes. But I was disappointed to find that the change of clothes was straying from my regular style; a white crop top with a really deep v-neck, and black tights.

I was running out of time, so I did my hair and morning routine; deciding to skip breakfast. I put the top and tights on, but made sure to grab a really big jacket—but then I decided against it. Rae and her minions had tossed my stuff into the water as a warning, and if I went out there acting as if nothing had happened, they would I assume I hadn't gotten the warning. If I went out there, looking calm and collected in different attire—then they would know their warning didn't work. I left my apartment making sure to lock it, and grabbed a jacket. Just in case I needed it.

()()

Since my fight with Derek, he'd been really retained around me. Not that I minded, it was just weird to see him go at flirting with other girls like crazy—and then when he got to me, it was as if he just turned off his inner flirt. It was odd, and annoying but satisfying to know I was no longer going to be targeted by him. Only today, when I entered class, (perfectly on time), his eyes never seemed to leave me. Everyone seemed to have noticed the complete outfit change. When I went to go get the ingredients for today's recipe, it seemed as if everyone was in my way. First Peter, casually trying to get my number, then Brady and finally Mila came up to me and asked me what was up. I didn't want to explain that Rae and her minions had destroyed my stuff because I could tell that a lot of people were listening. So instead I came up with a lousy excuse about how I was late and grabbed the first thing I saw. She took it in stride.

"Wait, Mila, where have you been lately?" I asked.

She looked nervous, and scratched the back of her head. "Oh, my flat mates do a movie night every night"

I nodded and turned away, hurt that she hadn't invited me. She must have realised, and she quickly went to cover her tracks.

"Chloe, my group's really into stupid things, but if you want you can co—"

I shook my head. "No thanks Mila" I walked off, making sure to ignore any looks I received. I didn't want her pity—lack of emotion—whatever it was. I would be perfectly fine without her.

()()

After class was over, I snuck into Linda's room. Picking up some eggs and milk, I started to get to work on this recipe for a type of dressing for duck, that Linda wanted me to try out. It was a really simple recipe, but it supposedly built character in the arm. It was sort of like whipped cream—an easy recipe in itself, but tiresome effort wise. I didn't really want to do it, but I liked Linda, and she was usually right about cooking, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I finished up with the sauce, and placed in it in the freezer, hoping it would freeze in time for it to be tested out on a row of chicken. Then I grabbed some sugar, milk and eggs for some whipped cream—all these thoughts about whipped cream were making me hungry. After I placed the whipped cream in the fridge, I started to clean up. Linda never asked me to clean up, she usually did it herself, but I knew it put pressure on her back. So if I ever got to the kitchen before she did, and finished up—I cleaned up.

I tucked the flour back in, wiping it with a cloth. I grimaced when I noticed that my hair was covered in flour and bits of spices. After the flour was gone, and the dishes were cleaned, I picked up all the spices and took them back into the spice room. That's what I had dubbed the spice and ingredient filled room that I had visited when I first found the kitchen. The only problem with that room was that you could never just toss a spice back; you had to find the right section and place it amongst its carbon copies. So when I was holding a mix of Indonesian peppers with a small pinch of cranberry seeds—(Linda's own combination)—I was at an annoying issue. The shelf in which the combination usually rested was much higher than I could reach. I remembered noticing a ladder in the storage cupboard in one of the rooms across from the kitchen.

I placed the spice in my pocket and went to go and retrieve the ladder.

I returned with the ladder, and steadied myself. I had never many good memories of climbing a ladder, the last time I had climbed one was with Tori. It was Halloween of sophomore year, and we were at a party. We had just discovered that Tori's boyfriend of that time was cheating on her with the hostess of the party. Of course we had to get revenge on him, so we had followed them up the stairs and made sure to know which room they had locked themselves in. Then we snuck downstairs, grabbed the microwave and some tools and snuck outside. While Tori fiddled with the microwave, I went on a search to find some power cords and a camera. While I was on that search, I overheard the hostess's friends discussing how her parents were prudes and how they didn't even know about the party. After I gathered what we needed, I went back to Tori to inform her of my discoveries. She and I had then formulated a master plan to both get back at her boyfriend and the girl he was cheating with.

Tori used some wires from the microwave to connect my phone to the camera without a computer. We transferred three hours worth of recordings—she and I recorded ever party we went to from start to finish—from my phone to the camera. Then she connected the camera to the speakers using more microwave wires. I went to their garage and grabbed some Christmas lights and ran back. I ran into the middle of the room and screamed "Police!" and watched with satisfaction as everybody ran out screaming—making the entire house go quiet. Tori had already hooked up the speakers in front of the room her boyfriend and the hostess were in, so they wouldn't suspect anything. We turned up the volume and locked the door from the outside. After one last search of the house we ran to the front yard. Tori and I had taken one of their many 80 inched flat screens outside, and had hung it up using large coils. Tori programmed it to say: YOUR DAUGHTER IS BEING DEFLOWERED IN YOUR BEDROOM. (This was my suggestion) We used the Christmas lights to make an arrow that pointed to the back yard. Tori and I hauled out a ladder, and then we climbed the ladder to hang Christmas lights _around_ the window of the room they were doing the cheating.

The last thing we did that night before driving home was anonymously call her parents. And then we drove to the nearest Starbucks and ordered what we called the break up package. Then we drove back to the house the party took place in and watched the whole scene unfold. We got some good pictures of Tori's ex-boyfriend hobbling into the night, wearing only his boxers.

I yanked myself back into the present and prepped to climb the ladder. Unfortunately I had to go pretty high. After I got too the top of the ladder, I placed the spice amongst its family, and began my dreaded descent. Everything was going well until I heard someone open up the kitchen door and in my rush to get down before the person did anything—I knew it wasn't Linda because she called out my name every time she entered after me—I knocked the balance of the ladder astray. Panic exploded in my stomach and I curled into a ball, ready for the pain. Only it didn't occur because a pair of lean and muscled arms wrapped around me, catching me before I fell.

"Whoa there—you don't want my grandmother to have to call your parents informing them of your accident" The person, who caught me, rumbled with a British accent. My eyes snapped open, and I pushed the person holding me and they let me go. I fell on my butt, hard. I scrambled to my feet and looked up at the stranger. If Tori were here, she would have yelled at me to thank them and get their number; which would mean that this person was really attractive. Tori could be super judgmental about people, and she rarely liked anybody. She only approved of me dating Nate because we had all known each other for quite a while. My savior was definitely attractive—very attractive; soft dirty blond hair, silver eyes framed by long lashes, rosy red lips, olive skin and a lean figure. He was wearing a long sleeved t-shirt—but I could tell that he was pretty well built. My eyes went to his which stared at me

"I-I-who are you?" I asked, cursing my stutter.

The person cocked his head confusedly. "I'm Robin, Linda's grandson. I'm assuming you're Chloe?"

I gawked at him and his accent. Linda never mentioned that she had hot, British grandson! To be fair on her part, it would have been really weird if she'd called her grandson hot. But she could have told me he was British.

"Yeah, I'm Chloe" I said, breathlessly. I could already feel my cheeks flushing. Great, not even five minutes with the guy and I had already fallen, and looked like a tomato. I turned my attention back to him and said, "Linda never mentioned that you were British"

Robin shrugged. "She usually skimps on the details that people usually want to be aware of"

I nodded again. I looked down at my feet and at the fallen ladder. "Thanks" I mumbled, looking up. Robin nodded, and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking around. I looked down again, and started at my feet. I was glad that no spices had been spilled—otherwise I'd be cleaning for the next several hours. Linda managed to pack an insurmountable amount of spices into one measly bottle. It was kind of cool.

Robin and I stood there for a few more seconds, and I cursed myself to the moon and back—why, oh why was I cursed with being unable to start an intriguing conversation? The poor guy must be so annoyed. He saves me and all I can muster out is a thank you, and that's _after_ I questioned him. I looked up—only to find him not there. I furrowed my brows, and left the spice room. I went into the kitchen, only Robin wasn't there. I was starting to think he was a figment of my imagination, when I heard the kitchen door open again.

It was Linda.

"Chloe, are you alright?" She asked, walking over to me and checking me for injuries. I told her I was fine.

"Robin caught me in time" I said.

She beamed. "I'm sorry he rushed out without saying anything—he is much like Derek in that retrospect. The two of them never stick around for anything. Robin and Derek—now that I think about it are quite similar. Arrogant, cocky and intelligent" She shook her and gave me a warm smile.

I smiled back and refrained from adding "hot as hell" to the list of what Robin and Derek had in common.

Linda walked over to the fridge, and inspected the marinating sauce. "Good job—why'd you make whipped cream?"

I shrugged. "I was in the mood. I might make a cake and put the cream on it as icing"

Linda laughed. "Sure." She gave me head to toe and raised an eyebrow. "You usually dress differently"

I ran a hand through my floury hair, and explained to her about what someone did. I didn't mention the letter or who I thought had done it.

Linda frowned. "Have you told Derek? Or Simon?"

I shook my head. "No, but I don't want to. I honestly don't think I need to either. I've made sure to lock my room"

Linda didn't look satisfied, but she didn't comment. Together we marinated the chicken, and then placed it in the oven. Linda had me make more marinating sauce while she started cutting up mire chicken and adding spices to the already made ones. While we cooked, we also talked.

According to Linda her grandson Robin and her granddaughter Jules were staying at her house for the next three weeks. They had just come over to see her, and Robin had wanted to learn some cooking skills. He was in his first year of University—or Uni, as he called it—and he was tired of eating unhealthy. He was chemistry major at Cambridge but he was really keen on staying healthy and fit. (I didn't mention that he was very fit and smelled really good to Linda). Linda mentioned that she wanted him to learn some cooking from both her and Derek, but mostly she wanted him to know what spices went with what, so he could experiment on his own. She wasn't too worried about him accidentally poisoning himself with a bad combination of food because he was pretty good with chemicals. Robin was born in America but he grew up in England because his Mom and Dad moved there—London was where they had Jules. Linda told me about how she spent two years in England, but she knew her real home was in America, so she moved back. Linda visited them year, but she said that it didn't feel like enough; She felt as if she was missing out on their life. She wanted them to prolong their stay, but they told her that if they really enjoyed their stay they would. And this is where I came in.

Linda wanted me to tour Robin and Jules around, if I had free time. I was going to say 'yes' until she blurted out that she wanted me to help Robin get around to cooking with Derek.

"Linda—I really don't think that's a good idea. Derek and I don't get along" I said, holding up my hands.

She smiled warmly at me. "Oh it doesn't matter. I just want him to see a nice girl who can cook!"

I sighed and told Linda I would do it. I was in the middle of cutting some baked chicken slices when I realised Linda had just told me straight out that she was trying to set me up with her grandson.

I shot a look at her—nope, she still didn't look like mastermind matchmaker. Though, I didn't doubt that she could pull the look off.

()()

I folded the last bit of laundry and tucked it into the drawer. I had just spent the last three hours doing my laundry and folding it. All I wanted to do now was throw myself onto my bed and either sleep, watch a good movie, or text Tori. I decided to do all three. I made popcorn, and got out my Mac and made my bed. Then I changed my mind, and hooked my laptop up to the TV and made the sofa super comfortable. I even changed into comfortable clothing to induce sleep. I was so ready for some nice sleep that I almost didn't even turn the movie on. But I just had to watch The Vow after a weird day. I called Tori up and told her about my dilemmas and I also mentioned to her about the Derek and Robin issue. I also mentioned the letter.

"I think it was Rae's minions. She wouldn't care about you and Derek" Tori said.

I rubbed at my eyes, sleepily. "Good point. But they don't seem smart enough"

Tori laughed. "That's what you said about me—and look how that turned out"

I laughed. "Yes, but that's because you immediately placed me as a cheerleader and stupid" And it was true; the moment Tori and I met for the first time in kindergarten she called me stupid and said I was going to be a cheerleader. When my mom died, I had to stay at her house. She and I started talking and eventually it led to the beginning of our friendship.

"Well you are pretty shit at math" Tori stated.

I scowled. "Shut up. I passed didn't I?"

Tori laughed. "That's because you had a million tutors and after school session and retake tests"

I let out a large sigh. "You didn't exactly pass with flying colors"

Tori snorted. "I got a ninety-three. So I did a million times better than you"

I smirked, remembering an event that almost always made Tori squeamish. "Hey Tori, remember that time that Bethany called you Victoria and you told her to shut up? And then she dumped a bunch of frog entrails on you? That biology class was quiet memorable "

Tori squealed. "OHMYGOD shut up. Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to ever think about that again"

I laughed and fell flat on my back, holding the phone to my ear. "You know, on your wedding day, I know exactly what to say when I give my speech"

Tori laughed. "Hey Chloe, do _you _remember that time that Arthur asked you out and you didn't want to go out with him that you blurted out that you had a date? And then he suggested you guy's double date a couple weeks later? Remember how you had to come clean to him? Then his girlfriend pushed you into the garbage?"

I groaned. "I did deserve it though"

She chuckled. "Yeah, you did. Do you remember that time in freshman year that you and I almost got suspected for getting Jordan and Mickey in trouble? We ended up telling them that you lost your phone and someone must have made the call"

I grinned. "Yes, that was an accomplishment, wasn't it?"

"I don't regret it all" Tori said, nonchalantly.

I nodded earnestly and asked her about Aaron.

"He and I are actually having a lot of fun. We might even move in together when we start University."

I grinned cheekily. "I was expecting that. You are kind of clingy about him"

Tori snorted again. Then she started giggling. I pulled the phone away from my ear and gave it an incredulous look. In all my years of knowing Tori I had never heard her giggle after second grade.

I pulled the phone back to my ear. "Um Tori?" I asked.

"Sorry Chloe" She said breathlessly. "Aaron was just—"

"Don't lie to me child. Call me back when you aren't busy" I said.

"Hi Chloe!"Aaron shouted from the background.

"Hi Aaron" I shouted back. "I'll talk to you later Tori"

"Bye Chloe" Tori said before she hung up.

I tossed my phone back onto the floor and stretched. Then I pressed play on the remote and burrowed underneath the covers. Channing Tatum turned to face me (sort of) and I smiled contently.

()()

I awoke to banging on my door. I stumbled to my feet and opened the door, completely oblivious to my bedridden hair and sleepy face.

"Hi" Someone said, "Is this a bad time?"

I rubbed at my eyes and widened them in horror when I realised I was staring at Robin. "Umm no, I just-uh, didn't know you were coming. Do you want to come in while I get changed?"

Robin nodded and stepped in. I shut the door behind him, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Sorry, I was just sleeping" I said.

Robin laughed. "And watching The Vow?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well you only live once"

He snorted. "I'm sure you've watched this movie more than once"

I laughed. "Twice actually"

Robin turned to look at me, and suddenly comfortable outfit of a loose big t-shirt and shorts turned uncomfortable. Oh the irony.

Robin blinked and looked away, his cheeks heating up just the slightest.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and said, "What am I getting dressed for?"

Robin looked back at me. "Touring my sister and I around"

I nodded and said, "Give me five minutes"

I grabbed my phone and walked quickly into my room, thankful I had done my laundry.

I texted Tori: _robins here and he's waiting for me to tour him around. WHAT DO I WEAR?_

Her response came quickly; fashion was her forte._ Your cute blue t and black skinny jeans. Mascara, lip gloss and eyeliner silver. _

I texted her back about my hair, and she responded by saying it should be left alone but brushed.

I flew around my room getting my outfit together. As soon as I was ready, I grabbed my wallet, phone, grey wool cardigan and purse and slipped on my converse, before running out. Robin was looking at his feet.

"I'm ready" I said, and he looked up.

"Um cool, sorry to spring this on you"

I shook my head. "It's all good"

...

It was awkward at best as we made our down the elevator. It was a big relief when his sister waved us over. Jules was quite pretty with tan skin and black hair. She reminded me of Tori, because they both had that attentive but apprehensive look about them.

"Hi I'm Chloe" I said, holding out my hand to Jules.

She gave me a smile and said, "I'm Jules. My brother mentioned how pretty you are"

I laughed, but secretly glanced at Robin; the tips of his ears and cheeks were slightly red.

"Well he probably was taking pity on my lack of grace"

She laughed. "Maybe. How long have you been in Chicago?"

"Not very long, but long enough to get a hang of this place" I explained, crossing my arms.

Jules nodded and we talked for a few minutes as we walked. She was standing in-between Robin and me. It was weird because he seemed a lot shyer than Derek.

"So how is high school treating you?" I asked.

"Oh it's boring. I think it would be much more interesting if _someone _let me go to the parties_" _She gave a pointed look at Robin, before continuing. "I'm not even allowed to go out on a date, because Robin over here won't let me talk to any of the guys that aren't in my year"

I laughed, "Trust me, you learn a lot of interesting things at those parties"

Robin scoffed. "Yeah—a lot of stupid things and you are much better off with the guys in your grade"

I found myself staring at Robin again. It was really cute that he was protective of his little sister.

Jules scowled. "Honestly Robin, it's ridiculous—thank god when you're away at Uni next year I'll be able to finally go out with someone; Mum isn't as strict as you are"

Robin chuckled darkly. "Good thing we've got Dad"

Jules scowled. "So Dad stayed quiet only because you said you wanted to handle it?"

Robin grinned. "Yeah..."

I laughed softly, bringing attention to myself.

"Was your Dad really protective of you, like my lot is?" Jules asked, glaring at Robin.

I shook my head. "He wasn't around long enough. My Aunt actually encourage my getting a boyfriend and going to parties and shopping with my friends; I much preferred staying at home watching movies"

Jules gave me a surprised look. "What did your Mum say?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think she would have minded either way. She died a long time ago, before second grade" I explained.

"Oh- I'm sorry" Jules said. I waved her off.

"Get a boyfriend you trust" I said, thinking back to Nate.

Robin scowled playfully at me. "Don't encourage her" He said, grinning. I laughed. Jules got a look on her face.

"So, Chloe are you single?" She asked.

Robin and I stopped in our tracks to give her a look. "Um" I swallowed. "Yeah, I am"

She nodded and gave a sly smile before asking me where we were going. I shot one last confused glance at Robin before we followed after her.

Interesting...

()()

We walked around, went to a park, ate at a restaurant and finally we caught a movie. It turned out that Jules and I were pretty alike, asides from the fact that she liked going to parties. She and I were both pretty clumsy and Robin had to warn us of puddles and slipper patches of grass. We also liked the same songs, and we spent a portion of the walk to the theatres singing 'We Are Young'. Robin had to move several feet away from us to avoid embarrassment. We sand even louder because of that.

I secretly think he enjoyed it.

We were walking back to my room when we decided to stop for ice cream. I offered to pay, but there was no way Robin was allowing that. My phone buzzed when he handed me the ice cream.

"Thanks" I said, taking the ice cream. "Can you, um, give me a minute?"

Robin nodded and made his way to Jules who was still deciding what to get.

I pulled out my phone and answered. "Hello?"

"Hi Chloe" the person replied, and instantly cringed; Nate.

"What do you want Nate?" I asked, sighing and licking at my ice cream.

"Chloe, I'm sorry that we didn't end things well" Nate said using a platonic voice.

I scowled. "Goodbye Nate" I hung up before walking back towards Jules and Robin.

"Who was that?" Jules said.

"A nuisance" I replied. "By the way, pick Strawberry Twist—it is pretty good"

Jules nodded and ordered.

...

We dropped Jules off in a taxi so she could go straight back to Linda's house after she and I had exchanged numbers and made plans to meet later on. Robin and I walked back to my room—this reminded me of a first date—a thought I quickly banished.

"You know you didn't have to walk me back, you could've gone with Jules" I said, amused.

Robin rolled his eyes. "She needs a few moments to herself—or she'll think I'm suffocating her. Besides, Grandmother would have murdered me if I said I didn't walk you back"

I laughed. "Linda is really nice. You're lucky to have her"

Robin nodded. "Yeah, it sucks that we're so far apart"

"I haven't met either of my grandparents" I said, hugging my cardigan closer.

"That sucks" Robin said, tucking his hands into his pockets.

I shrugged. "Maybe it does, but I've always had people to talk to, so I've never really known"

Robin and I didn't say anything until we got to my room. I opened the door and stepped in, but kept the door propped ajar against my foot.

"Thanks for touring us around" Robin said.

I gave him a smile. "It was fun"

Robin ran a hand through his hair casually. "I'll see you around then?" He asked.

I nodded, slightly disappointed with not getting his number. "Bye" I said, slowly closing the door.

"Wait" He said. "Can I have your number?"

I hid my smile before writing my number into his phone.

"Bye" Robin said, waving.

The moment he was gone, I closed the door and slid against it smiling like crazy.

Who needed red headed boys named Nate anyway?

()()

**Blame the length of the chapter on my desperation to keep my mind off the fact that I found out my crush knows I like him. :'( **

**But I figured you guys would like this chapter. ;) I apologize in advance for any mess ups regarding accents and stuff. I'm basically relying on my British cousins for stuff regarding British accents and realistic terms. I might not get to update next week, because I'm going to be busy but I'll try to update by next Sunday. **

**Wish me luck with my crush and I hope you guys find this chapter intriguing! **

**~SurrealExistence**


	5. Chapter 5

**Read the ending AN, it has interesting news on SSS and other things, ;)**

**Disclaimer: Only own the plot and things you don't recognize. **

**()()**

Everything was going well; I was doing excellent in the cooking course selection of the week, I was getting tips and facts from Linda, Nate hadn't bothered to call me, Robin and I had hung out several times and were much more comfortable around one another, Jules and I made plans to go shopping this weekend and I was getting along fine without any friends—as weird as that last one sounded, it was true—and most importantly, I hadn't really thought about my mother in a while.

So it was only expected that my mood was going to be ruined.

But the weird thing was that it was elevated instead. The weirder part was that it was elevated by Derek.

)_)_)_)

I pulled the last tray of freshly baked cookies out from the oven. I placed them on the cooling rack, and stood back, admiring the nice smell that wafted around the room and through the ventilation shafts. I glanced around the kitchen oddly satisfied with the mark I had left in the room. Some of the walls were coated in my personal favorite movie directors and script writers. I had a small locked drawer in the kitchen containing a change of clothes and some other things, and my mother's recipe book. The recipe book was stored in Linda's safe; the safe she kept all of her most sacred things. I was honored that I was allowed to put my mother's recipe book in it. In the past two weeks, I had made this kitchen even homier, and I loved every last wall to bits.

I leaned over the tray and took a whiff, almost sighing in delight. I grabbed a spatula and carefully manoeuvred a cookie onto it. I placed the cookie on a plate and sliced it into four even quarters. I carefully extracted one of the quarters and took a bite; Yum. I grinned down at the cookie portion in my hand and stuffed the rest of the scalding hot dessert into my mouth.

"You know—you shouldn't eat too much cookie dough" An amused voice said. I turned to look at Robin, who was leaning against the kitchen door. I turned my nose up at him and waved at the cookie tray.

"They aren't raw" I said. "I just took them out"

Robin looked surprised as he walked over to inspect my cookies. His hand reached out for one, but I quickly slapped it way.

"Ow!" He hissed, pulling his hand back.

I smiled at him triumphantly. "They're for Jules"

He frowned at me, but snuck a portion of the cookie that I had sliced. "Why does she get cookies?" He asked, swallowing and walking over to the fridge—no doubt looking for a milk carton.

"She and I are going shopping this weekend, and I figured she'd like to munch on these while we talked and walked. Mall food isn't that good" I explained. I grabbed another cookie and took a bite, wincing when it heated the under part of my tongue.

Robin smirked at me. "Do you need me to—"I thrust my hand into his face.

"Don't even go there" I said. As of late, Robin had been showing more of his Derek like characteristics. Crude suggestions and dirty jokes were amongst the batch, but I knew he didn't mean any of it. He and I were friends. Good friends—at least that's what I think.

Robin chuckled and reached around me for another cookie. I resigned and let him take about twelve cookies, but I made him promise to help reimburse me in the cookie department.

"So, you excited about the session with you, me and Derek?" I asked, sealing the cookies in the cookie jar that Linda had recently purchased.

Robin looked up at the sky. "Sort of, I guess. I mean, I really do need to learn how to cook. And I've met Derek before, last year, and he and I get along"

I nodded, surprised. "I didn't think you and Derek would like each other"

Robin chuckled. "I said we get along, I never said that we liked each other. Derek and I only tolerate each other because of grandmother. He adores her and so do I"

I laughed. "That's what I suspected. You and Derek don't seem to be the buddy-buddy type"

Robin cocked his head, and rummaged through the cookie jar. I eyed the White Chocolate cookie in his hand. He took a bite of the cookie before saying, "Asides from his girls, he's not much of a friend type. He has Simon and his Dad, and I think that's all he needs and wants"

I frowned. "What about commitment?"

Robin rubbed his chin, and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think he see's much of a benefit in it"

I gaped at Robin and tried to digest what he said. How could you not want commitment? How could you not want a family; something to belong to, something you could call yours. Even though my mom was dead, I couldn't imagine a world where I had nobody to call my own. Even the guys—the bad boys and the players—from high school, the ones that claimed they couldn't be tied down. Almost all of them had fallen for someone.

"Maybe he hasn't met the right girl" I mused, taking my own cookie from the jar.

Robin snorted. "Maybe he doesn't have a right girl"

I smirked. "Maybe you're just jealous"

Robin gave me half smile. "Maybe" He said, before he tossed the last bit of cookie into the air and caught it in his mouth with his eyes closed.

()()

I shifted through my bag one last time, sighing with relief when I found my gym membership. The lady at the counter gave me a skeptical look, I don't think she believed I could really do anything physical activity wise; to be fair to her, I didn't think I could either. I usually only visited the gym twice a month, but lately I was getting out of shape. Not that I had much of a shape to start with. I didn't go to the gym for body building; I just went there so I could causally jog on the treadmill for two hours and then claim that I had gotten some physical activity.

The lady swiped my card through the monitor and said, "Do you wish to sign up for a personal trainer?"

I bit my lip and considered it. With all this cooking and unhealthy eating, by the time I got back to my home, I won't be able to walk. A personal trainer could keep me fit without overworking me. I gave the lady a smile and nodded. "Yes please"

She turned her focus back to her computer and typed on her key board. She printed a receipt and had me sign some things. Then she printed out some sheets with timings and my instructor name on them.

"Your instructor doesn't meet today, but they do meet tomorrow. Just be there—"She pointed at a small sector of the gym. "—By 7:30. Do you want to look around and just relax for a bit? We have a spa section upstairs, if you want."

I inwardly rolled my eyes. "No thank you, but I would like to try out the treadmill"

She nodded and opened the door with a flick of her wrist (There was a button by her wrist).

I thanked her again and made my way to the change rooms. I slipped on a pair of running shorts, and a loose t-shirt. I didn't like wearing tight t-shirts, when I ran. Tossing my bag into one of the lockers, I walked over to one of the treadmills, and turned the machine on.

I was in my running mood when someone's laugh interrupted me. I pressed stop on the machine and hopped off, taking a sip from my water bottle.

"You call that running?" A skeptical voice asked. I turned sharply and found myself unfortunately looking up into the eyes of the annoying Derek Souza.

"No" I said sarcastically. "I call it the run-from-imbeciles technique"

He snorted. "Yeah right, you wouldn't be able to outrun a chicken with that technique. Are you trying to look incapable?"

I crossed my arms. "No" I mumbled. "I'm getting a trainer tomorrow" I said in a feeble attempt to fight back.

Derek, looking smug, pulled at the fabric of my shirt. "And this—how are you supposed to exercise in it?"

I scowled at him. "It's much more comfortable than tight clothes"

Derek let out a booming laugh. "That shows how much you now. Wearing baggy clothes restricts you to adjusting your attire every five minutes. Have you ever done_ real _sit ups with baggy clothing? The neck of you shirt constricts around your throat—preventing air to go through and suddenly your under pressure, trying to get a steady air flow again"

I sighed. "Will it make you happy if I change my attire for the next time I come here?"

Derek smirked. "Yes"

I clenched my fist, ready to give him a piece of my mind when I decided to rethink my strategy. Derek was easily ruptured when he was under the element of surprise. I came up with nothing, so I decided that maybe tomorrow if I saw him again, I'd get my revenge.

"Then I suppose it's settled?" I asked, dauntingly. I rose to my full height—not exactly threatening—and glared at him. Since I was probably more than a foot shorter than him, I had to look up and glare at him or else I'd be glaring at his chest.

Derek's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I suppose it is"

I leaned away from him, hopped back onto the treadmill and retrieved my ear buds from my pocket. I tucked them into my ears, stuck my tongue out at him and tuned him out with a final nod.

"Good riddance" I muttered as he stalked off.

()()

I was going to be late for class.

It was evident; I had stayed up to 1:30 am texting Robin and Jules. I'd also Face Timed Tori for an hour or so, and she and I discussed Robin's hotness and Derek's annoyingness. But it wasn't until she and I started talking about their probably existing abs—that I realised Aaron had been listening to the conversation. Tori hadn't realised it either and she turned when I pointed at the screen behind her. She had promptly hung up on me so she could go and punish Aaron. I fell asleep late, and woke up about ten minutes before class started. I rushed around the room grabbing my stuff and anything I could possibly need. My mind flashed back to the letter, and I remembered it stating that I should just say the word and I'd receive it. For defiance's sake, I said, "An alarm clock" out loud before I rushed out.

Derek and Simon had already started by the time I had busted the door open. Derek looked up and gave me an annoyed look. Simon smiled at me and gestured for me to take my usual seat.

"Sorry I'm late" I said, as I plopped down.

Simon opened his mouth but Derek beat him to the chase. "What were you doing that kept you so busy?"

I gave him a hard and unmoving stare. "I was busy jogging" I enunciated the word just to irk him. And it worked because he gave me look and I knew that if people weren't in the room, he'd flip me off and serve me some spicy language on a silver platter. But people were in the room and he just stared until I looked away.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, first you remove the calamari from the buttermilk. But be careful—drain it entirely. Can anyone tell me the next step?" He looked around the room, and so did I. Rae, Amber and Jasmine have their hands up. Mila was biting her lip—a telltale sign that she knew, but didn't want to get picked on. His eyes swept around the room finally landing to a stop on me. Thankfully, I knew how to make fried calamari.

"Can you tell us Chloe?" He asked, smirking. I smiled inwardly, he had no idea what was coming to him.

"Yes actually. You dip it in the beaten egg and then flour" I answered.

His face didn't give him away, but I could tell he was taken by surprise and ... was that—amusement?

"And then?" He asked, eyes never leaving mine.

I racked my brain for the recipe, happy when I remembered it. "Fill a skillet with two cups of vegetable oil and heat it to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry it in groups—otherwise you'll have trouble prepping them"

Derek's eyes filled with amusement and he cleared his throat. "Exactly what Chloe said—so I suggest you retrieve the ingredients you will need"

I gave Derek a smirk before heading into the pantry, feeling accomplished.

I gathered the ingredients for the calamari itself, and grabbed a handful of spices to flavor it up. I was about to leave when I realised I had only taken the items necessary for the calamari and not the dipping sauce. I grabbed some more spices, parsley, peppers and vegetables before streaking back to my station. I peeled the tomatoes and added spices to the mix and dumped it into a bot. I placed hot water into it and set it to boil. Then I set to work on the calamari. A while later I poured some dipping sauce into a tiny saucer and placed the calamari in an organized formation; I looked at the timer and smiled. I'd made it.

Derek and Simon had us leave our work and go and walk around and try to relax. I stretched around, anxious to go hit up the gym and meet my trainer. Apparently the person training me was mucho experienced, according to the lady behind the counter. She and I had conversed about him, and according to her he was hot as hell. I was honestly so pumped for the training session.

After we got released I was about to go to my room to change and take a shower, when someone grabbed my arm.

"How do you do it?" Jasmine asked me, her eyes narrowing. I ripped my arm away from her grasp and said, "do what?'

"Know the recipes?" Amber asked.

I scowled and was about to reply when Rae interjected. "She spends most of her time being a nerd, seeing as she doesn't have much of a social life." She turned to me, her voice more directed and venomous. "You think you can impress Simon by knowing how to cook squid?"

I snorted. "At least I'm not a whore. Now, if you'll excuse me I have something to finish. And I'm sure you have someone to do" And with that, I stormed off. I kept myself together until I was in the vicinity of my room, before I burst out laughing. I wiped at my eyes, texted Tori what happened and hopped into the shower before going to help Linda out.

As it turned out, Linda wanted me to make another batch of my cookies. She said that she, Robin and Jules had thoroughly enjoyed them. She refrained from asking me what the recipe was; when I mentioned that it was my mother's.

"A family secret" She said steadily, before she handed me the book. I shook my head and said, "I have it memorized"

She gave me an appreciative smile. "Excellent. That's excellent!"

I smiled at her before turning to my task.

...

Once the cookies were in the oven and I had cleaned up and gathered some spices for Linda, I sat on a chair, mixing a bowl of whipped cream in my lap. Linda kept glancing over at me and saying things like. "Good". I appreciated her commentary, but it was starting to tense me out.

I finished the whipped cream and tossed it into the fridge. I washed my hands and walked over to the fridge filled with things that Linda tried not to use. Basically store bought and chemically enhanced foods and drinks. I opened it and searched through it until I found a yummy looking container filled with caramel cream. I grabbed a spoon and a bowl and scooped a bunch of the creamy goodness into the bowl before placing the container back into the fridge of artificial health. (As Linda liked to call it)

"Hey Linda" I said.

"Yes dear?" She called.

It warmed my heart that she called me dear. "Where does all this food go?" I asked, because I rarely saw fifty percent of it at dinners.

"Charity and places where good, nutritional food is lacking" She responded. She handed me a small saucer filled to the middle with creamy looking chowder. I sipped the whole thing up and said, "A pinch more salt and cumin"

She nodded and did exactly so. I continued to eat the cream, occasionally sending a longing glance at the fridge. Linda gave me a look every time she caught me looking at it.

"Here, eat this" She said handing me a plate filled with calamari and the chowder. I grinned and started consuming the meal.

I told her about my training session afterwards and she laughed. "You?" She asked. "You need to work out?"

I gave her a look and said, "Yes, because according to Derek I wouldn't be able to outrun a chicken"

Linda laughed. "What if it's dead? Will you be able to outrun it then?"

I groaned and took another sip of my chowder, and winced when I heard a 'ding' The cookies being finished signaled quitting time. It was almost 6:45. I wanted to gather all the things I might need and do a warm up before I headed to the gym. I placed the cookie tray on the warming rack and waved to Linda.

"I have to go now Linda. I'll see you tomorrow" I said.

She stopped what she was doing and handed me package. When I asked what was in it she just shook her head and said, "Payment" Then she waved me off, and I fast walked to my room.

...

The package held a bowl of chowder and a plate of calamari and twelve of my cookies.

I _so_ knew what I was eating after my training session.

I grabbed my gym bag and put a baggy shirt and the shorts I wore last time. Then—because my trainer might be like Derek—I put a tight fitted spandex shirt and shorts into the bag as well. I also tossed in my Nike's and several hair bands. I also put my shampoo and conditioner. Then I also grabbed some comfortable clothing to wear after the workout, nothing fancy just some sweats and a long sleeved t-shirt. I then crammed my phone, body gel and phone charger into the bag. I slipped a sweater and I was ready. I waited until the clock hit 7:10 before I left for the gym. The gym is actually really close to the rooms, but I wanted to eat an apple and do some stretches before I actually started with the training.

When the clock hit 7:25 I was standing in the corner I was told to wait in. I was wearing my baggy shirt and shorts. The entire gym was empty so I freaked out and thought I was in the wrong place before I came to the conclusion that everyone else was training in separate places. I was leafing through a pamphlet when someone said, "I thought I told you not to wear that shirt"

I flipped around and my stomach dropped. "Why the hell are you here?" I asked.

"I'm your trainer, and I get to boss you around. Go change into a different shirt; the shorts can stay"

I gave him a look before stomping off to the change rooms.

After I had changed into "appropriate attire" as Derek so classily put it, we began training. Derek had me do a fast paced sprint on the treadmill, and then he had me do fifty push ups, sixty sit ups and ten lunges on both sides. Of course he did them with me, occasionally stopping to fix my positioning or stomach balance. It was embarrassing that he saw me go through the struggles of not being able to do my last four sit ups. When we were done with that he had me do it all again, especially the sit ups. The third time around he had me add two push ups to every sit up I missed.

"Yes! You are literally two push ups away from Round Four!" He cried.

I groaned. "What—? Round four?"

He ignored my protests and had me do thirty push ups—yeah, I missed a lot of sit ups.

Finally for the last round he had me do knee jumps. Excruciatingly long knee jumps. I did a 140 of those. And then he let me take a break.

I coughed and downed another bottle of water. "I thought you" I huffed. "Were supposed to stop when I reached my" I huffed yet again. "Limit"

He gave me an amused look. "I am pushing you to your limit. Not you full limit, but beyond your prissy pathetic chicken run limit"

I coughed again and said, "Are we done yet?"

He laughed. "No—we have another hour left. It's only 9:30, you finish at 10:30"

I groaned, louder than before and said, "How long is my break?"

He looked at the gym clock and said, "Two minutes left. Including a bathroom break" He arched an eyebrow. "You might need one"

I rolled my eyes and wiped my sweat coated forehead. "I'll be fine"

Forty-five minutes later and several grueling exercises later, I was begging for mercy. Something I'd never imagined doing, not in a millennium.

"Nope, I told you to go before!" He said, crossing his arms.

I squirmed. "Please Derek—!" I said. I really needed to go to the bathroom but he wasn't letting me. But I was determined to go, so I stepped up my game.

"I'll pee on the floor" I said, my cheeks flaming. He snorted, and said, "No you won't"

I nodded, enthused. "Yeah I will. And I'll say it was your fault their equipment was destroyed"

Derek gave me a look before saying. "Alright, go ahead and pee on the floor"

I stopped where I was and gave him a surprised look. "What?!" I asked.

He gave me grin and stepped forward. "Told you"

I sighed and rubbed at my neck. I looked up at him, and said. "Please?"

He shook his head, a smirk arriving on his face.

Then it struck me. He succumbed to the element of surprise. If I just managed to surprise him enough, maybe I might be able to break away.

I raced through my mind, trying to remember what might most easily surprise him. When nothing came to me, I sighed. He looked triumphant for a moment, and then he snorted. "Pathetic" He murmured. I felt fury and anger, the same way I had when he'd teased Peter. I narrowed my eyes and brought my knee up, ignoring the stretch in my thigh. Derek gasped and fell to the floor, eyes clenched.

"Sucks to be you" I said and launched away, laughing my head off when he caught the weight of what I had done.

Anger took place in his face and his eyes hardened. "Chloe!" He shouted.

I laughed like a maniac and dove to the bathrooms. After I had finished my business I opened the change room door cautiously. The floor he had been occupying was empty; I looked around until I found him, standing by the treadmill. I expected him to yell at me, but he only cocked his head to the side and said, "I guess provoking you isn't on the list of things usable to overpower you"

I laughed and nodded. "Might want to take being a douche of the list as well"

He gave me a half smile and said, "Sorry that comes with the package. Well played Chloe, well played"

I shrugged and tossed my hair behind my shoulder. "Thank you"

He crossed his arms and said, "Class is over, go and take a shower"

I nodded and scurried back to the change rooms. A quick but relaxing shower later, I was fully dressed and waiting for Derek. He appeared out of the male changing room and said, "You shower quickly"

I nodded. "One of my many talents; I'll see you next week then?"

He bowed his head. "Wait—actually. Do you want to go and eat somewhere?"

My jaw dropped.

()()

**SURPRISE! ;) **

**Bet you guys weren't expecting an update today? *smug face***

**I wrote this chapter early because I know I won't have any time to update next week. I have like a million exams and admittance essays to write. So the only writing I'll be doing next week is non-fiction. Sorry :'(**

**But—in the meantime, I hope you guys enjoyed this installment! **

**khorie: Yeah, I know that even an OOC Derek wouldn't do that. But don't worry, you'll find out why he did later on. :)**

**The reason I updated tonight was because of the way things with my crush went. I only see my crush once a week, because he happens NOT to go to my school. But I see him on Fridays, and last week I found out for sure that he knew I like him. And I usually sit behind him or near him in class—not on purpose—but today I tried as hard as I could to avoid him. So when my friend and I sat down, on the opposite side from where he was, I noticed him staring. And he and I exchanged a lot of smiles and for that I was over the roof. Btw, I know a lot of you don't care about this—but since I'm the writer, you are stuck with this being in the AN. And don't worry; it won't be a chapter wise update on my life. Just here and there. **

**I had lots of fun writing this btw, it just flew out of my find in rapid speed. You guy are lucky, I wrote and edited this entire chapter on Monday night. But I'm posting it today so you guys don't get too used to fast updates. I don't want to let you down too much. I have several chapters typed up, but I'm mainly keeping them to myself until I think I should unleash them. So I suggest you guys review more. Yes, I know I am evil. ;)**

**Who else got hungry when they read the bits on cookies, chowder and calamari? I was tempted to actually MAKE calamari or chowder or cookies. But I didn't. ;( And if you guys ever want a specific food to be featured in a chapter, review and I'll see what I can do. **

**Last thing: **

**Dear hhlover39, **

**It deeply saddens me that you have moved to Siberia. I actually thought of you as one of my biggest supporters, it will really hurt to see you go. I wish you luck on you travels. ;) BUT, should you choose to stay, I'd like to dedicate this delayed chapter to you. I also have a few surprises in store for the story itself. Don't move to Siberia, because otherwise you'll miss the surprises!**

**PS: I really love reading your reviews. ;) 3**

**~SurrealExistence **


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